Some sources of books and CDs

A cautionary editorial:  why buy locally?

Students should consider the invaluable service rendered to customers by smaller local bookstores and music outlets.  Often you can save a dollar or two by shopping at a huge national chain store, locally or via the web, but there is no substitute for a local place that stocks books or CDs you can browse that are not to be found at huger places in town catering to local markets.  Mail order places feature a huge inventory, and let you "browse" to some degree, but you can't turn pages, sample the music, etc., as you can in these invaluable places.  Yet these places can survive only if we patronize them.  If we give most of our business to the huge operations, eventually publishers will publish only what these outlets are willing to distribute, and since their bottom-line is driven by volume, we should contemplate the miserable prospect of our eventually only being able to buy the latest fad in self-improvement books, piles of romances and science-fiction epics, or memorials to the next Princess Diana.   This might inspire us to invest in the survival of those outlets swimming against the current.  Since not every book or CD in the wholesale warehouses of the world can be stocked in any retail store, we should consider placing at least some of our special orders with local book and music stores.  I would like to mention two here in Manhattan, Kansas.

• Claflin Books and Copies is to be found in the little shopping area at the corner of Claflin Road and Denison Avenue, just across from the red-brick Marlatt Dorm Complex or from Throckmorton Hall (and catty-cornered from Ackert Hall).  Service is prompt and friendly.  It's a place we should all hope can not merely survive but thrive.  You can order over the phone, or the web, but sometime you should scope the place out in person and get acquainted with some of the folks who work there.

• Streetside Books and Records at 1231 Moro (in Aggieville at the corner of Moro Street and Manhattan Avenue) is the place in town to check out if you want to expand your collection of classical music, jazz, or international music, or blues.  (That's not all, of course, but it's my concern here.)  It is the local branch of a regional chain, but is worth supporting against the depredations of the more monopolistic forces in music distribution.  (You know what I'm referring to.)  There's no substitute for browsing, and if you have something in mind that the help can't locate in the shop, they'll order it for you.  You can place phone orders at 776-7373. 

Ordering books via the web

There will be times when you need a book pronto.  Then you might want to consider one of the national web companies offering books and CDs.  Often books are offered here at discounts under the list price, but remember that you'll also be paying handling and shipping fees, which can often leave you with close to what you'd pay anyway.  If you want the 2nd-day-air service, of course, you pay even more.

• Amazon.com describes itself as "Earth's Biggest Bookstore" offers books and CDs and more.

• Barnes and Noble describes itself as "The Biggest Bookseller Online" but also offers CDs, software, etc..

• varsitybooks.com -- which describes itself as "Your Online College Bookstore" -- specializes in college textbooks, some at discount prices (often, but not always, substantial).

• BIGWORDS.com is another such service directed specifically to college-level textbooks; it advertises "an additional 5% discount" on top of what it describes as its "already low prices."

• An option some may wish to consider, for building a collection of classical music, is to join one of the mail-order clubs.  One to check out is BMG Music Services Classical Club, which you can enter on-line either this way or this way.

Used, rare, hard-to-find books

Sometimes you need a book that's out of print, or you want to look for a used book because it might be less of a blow to your budget.  You'll want to get familiar with the local resources. 

• Here in Manhattan the place is The Dusty Bookshelf at 700 N. Manhattan, on the corner of Moro Street and Manhattan Avenue in Aggieville.  The staff can help you find out whether it has what you want if you can describe the sort of thing it is in terms of the categories they use to stock their holdings.  Phone # is (785) 539-2839)

• If you're over in Lawrence, you might check out the Dusty Bookshelf's Lawrence store.

• Also important in Lawrence is J. Hood Books in the1400 block of Massachusetts Ave.

There is now a goodly number of web sites directing you to sellers of used books around the country (and sometimes beyond) who have listed their holdings with the web site.  From these sites you can search for used, out of print, rare, antiquarian and hard-to-find books.  Here are some:

• Advanced Book Exchange
• Alibris
• The Avid Reader On-Line
• Bibliofind
• Powell's Books (also a source for new books; shipping free on orders over $50)
• Sixth Chamber Used Books

The web itself of course offers complete texts of many works that might be impossible or inconvenient to acquire otherwise.  There are many sites to consider these days.  I mention only a few, all of which focus on the humanities (though there are links to index pages beyond, to the sciences, etc).

• The On-Line Books Page

• One of these days, you might look at this site's Banned Books On-Line, a list of books that have been the objects of censorhip, or attempts at such.  Here you can see what self-appointed authorities (what Kant termed our would-be Vormünder or "guardians") have through the ages determined that folks should not be able to get their hands on

• Voice of the Shuttle Home Page.  Wow!

• The Literature On-line Home Page  is one of the most comprehensive entry-points into what the Web has to offer of and about literature. If you are working on-campus or via KSU's dial-up internet connection (the one you subscribe to through KSU Telecommunications), you have access to LION, its new interface.

Links compiled by Lyman Baker, 20 August 2001.